听力题 "Fingers were made before forks." When a person gives up good manners, puts aside knife and fork, and dives into his food, someone is likely to repeat that saying. The fork was an ancient agricultural tool, but for centuries no one thought of eating with it. Not until the 11th century, when a young lady from Constantinople (君士坦丁堡) brought her fork to Italy, did the custom reach Europe. By the 15th century the use of forks was widespread in Italy. The English explanation was that Italians were averse to eating food touched with fingers, "seeing all men''s fingers are not alike clean". English travelers kept their friends laughing while describing this ridiculous Italian custom. Anyone who used a fork to eat with was laughed at in England for the next hundred years. Men who used forks were thought to be woman-like, and women who used them were called show-offs. Not until the late 1600s did using forks become a common custom.